Scientists Produce Illusion Of Body-Swapping

Cognitive neuroscientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet (KI) have succeeded in making subjects perceive the bodies of mannequins and other people as their own. The findings are published in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE, December 3.
In the first experiment, the head of a shop dummy was fitted with two cameras connected to [...]

Declining Memory And Lack Of Imagination Linked In Older Adults

Most children are able to imagine their future selves as astronauts, politicians or even superheroes; however, many older adults find it difficult to recollect past events, let alone generate new ones. A new Harvard University study reveals that the ability of older adults to form imaginary scenarios is linked to their ability to recall detailed [...]

Research Suggests New Treatment Suitable For All Brain Tumor Patients

New research at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center suggests that a three-drug cocktail may one day improve outcomes in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a type of brain tumor with a dismal prognosis. Two of the drug candidates have been developed, and the team is working on the third all targeted to kill or [...]

News From The Journal Of Neuroscience

1. Neuron, Astrocyte, and Oligodendrocyte Transcriptomes
John D. Cahoy, Ben Emery, Amit Kaushal, Lynette C. Foo, Jennifer L. Zamanian, Karen S. Christopherson, Yi Xing, Jane L. Lubischer, Paul A. Krieg, Sergey A. Krupenko, Wesley J. Thompson, and Ben A. Barres
In this issue, Cahoy et al. describe a comprehensive database of quantitative gene expression data from neurons, [...]

The Science Of Shivering Revealed By OHSU Researchers

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University’s Neurological Sciences Institute have uncovered the system that tells the body when to perform one of its most basic defenses against the cold: shivering. The scientists have discovered the brain’s wiring system, which takes temperature information from the skin and determines when a person should start shivering. Their [...]

Intensive Training Post-spinal Cord Injury Can Stimulate Repair In Brain And Spinal Cord

Intensive rehabilitation training for patients with spinal cord injuries can stimulate new branches growing from severed nerve fibers, alongside compensatory changes in the brain, say Canadian researchers. Most importantly, it could lead to restoring hand function and the ability to walk.
A study recently published in the journal Brain highlights the remarkable benefits of rehabilitation training [...]

Study Suggests Some Brain Injuries Reduce The Likelihood Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

A new study of combat-exposed Vietnam War veterans shows that those with injuries to certain parts of the brain were less likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The findings, from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Naval Medical Center, suggest that drugs or pacemaker-like devices aimed at dampening activity in these [...]

Sleep Chemical Central To Effectiveness Of Deep Brain Stimulation

A brain chemical that makes us sleepy also appears to play a central role in the success of deep brain stimulation to ease symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease and other brain disorders. The surprising finding is outlined in a paper published online Dec. 23 in Nature Medicine.
The work shows that adenosine, a brain chemical [...]

News From The Journal Of Clinical Investigation

A new potential target in the treatment of a fatal brain disease
Hypertensive encephalopathy is an often-fatal disease of the brain that results from extremely high blood pressure. This disorder can lead to a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), resulting in fluid accumulation in the brain, a condition known as cerebral edema. The mechanisms underlying [...]

Medtronic’s Supply Of Multi-Axial Screws In United States Not Affected By Injunction

Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) announced that the sale of its recently-introduced VERTEX SELECT multi-axial screw is not affected by an injunction issued against the continued sale of the multi-axial screws used in the company’s VERTEX® and VERTEX MAX spinal systems. VERTEX SELECT is an improved, proprietary, multi-axial screw that is a substitute for the enjoined [...]